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Heavyweight Arreola stops Mitchell in first round

xxxx Esquivias KOs Marquez: Efrain Esquivias might have ended the great career of Rafael Marquez, knocking the former two-time champion down with a hard right hand in the ninth round to win their featherweight

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Chris "The Nightmare" Arreola lived up to his nickname Saturday night, stopping Seth Mitchell in the first round of their scheduled 12-round heavyweight fight at the Fantasy Springs Resort and Casino in Indio, Calif.

Arreola (35-3, 28 KOs) knocked Mitchell down about two minutes after the opening bell, but the former Michigan State linebacker survived. He was staggered by a powerful flurry a short time later from a charging Arreola, who was coming off an upset loss to Bermane Stiverne, getting his nose shattered in the process.

Referee Jack Reiss stopped the fight at 2:26 of the round, saying that Mitchell was unable to defend himself.

Arreola came into the bout saying he was taking this fight more seriously than any in his checkered career. He abandoned his usual training camp in his hometown of Riverside, Calif., to train in the heat of the Phoenix desert. He said he has been his own worst enemy in the past.

"Today it was easy work,": said Arreola, who engaged in a one-way trash-talking war with Mitchell leading up to the fight. "And that's because I put the hard work in in Arizona. No disrespect to Seth, but I came in here with a mission. That mission was to win. This (minor) title doesn't mean nothing to me. I want the big one. I want the world title.

"I'm No. 2 (WBC heavyweight challenger) now and (Bermane) Stiverne is No. 1. And I don't think Vitali (Klitschko) is coming back. So give me that rematch with Stiverne."

Arreola was stopped in the 10th round by Klitschko four years ago. Klitschko is now 42 and is running for president of Ukraine.

Mitchell (26-2-1, 19 KOs), who has struggled with his defense and ability to take punches in his last four fights, was downtrodden after the loss, his second in his last three fights.

"I got caught. I'm very disappointed right now," the Brandywine, Md., fighter said. "My heart just hurts right now. I have to go back to the drawing board. I didn't want to take a step back from my win against Johnathon Banks."

Esquivias KOs Marquez: Efrain Esquivias might have ended the great career of Rafael Marquez, knocking the former two-time champion down with a hard right hand in the ninth round to win their scheduled 10-round featherweight bout.

The knockdown, which caused referee Raul Caiz to stop it, was the first time Marquez (41-9, 37 KOs) had hit the canvas during his Hall-of-Fame-worthy career.

Marquez, 38, the younger brother of four-division champion Juan Manuel Marquez, said he had to really think about whether he was going to continue fighting or retire from boxing.

Esquivias (17-2-1, 10 KOs), who struggled early, ended up easily outworking Marquez, landing 283 of 730 punches, to 159 of 530 for Marquez. Esquivias had a 225-99 edge on power punches connected.

"I knew I was going to start slow, and he caught me with some good punches -- you see my eye, " Esquivias said. "But as long as I finished strong, I'm happy."

It means everything," Ezquivias said of beating Marquez. "I have all the respect for Rafael. I became and instant fan when he beat Tim Austin (in 2003 for his first major title)."

Marquez 41-8 (37 KO's), said, "In the first round I threw the best punches and I really thought I was going to knock him out early."